“What the hell are you doing?” Adrian called out.
“Looking for Carlos. Clearly this is a fucking setup.”
“It’s not a setup, Shiloh. Why do you think I asked you to leave your phone at home?”
I slammed open the door to last room and stared into the dimly lit bedroom. I flicked on the lights and scanned the empty space.
I turned back around with a huff and glared at Adrian who was standing at the end of the hallway.
“This is fucking ridiculous. Let me get this straight, you’re like an informant to the cops or something?”
“Or something.”
I scoffed, shaking my head in disbelief. “You’re going to get yourself and Lonnie killed. And now you’re risking my life. My friends’ lives. I don’t take that shit lightly.”
“We’re risking our lives anyways just being a part of the fucking gang,” he shot back with a bitter growl, moving from his position at the table until he was just a few feet from me. “The longer I’m stuck in this life, the greater the likelihood of me or Lonnie getting killed.”
“Did you learn fuckinganythingfrom the last fucking sucesor?”
Adrian’s brows knitted in confusion, his fists relaxing at his sides.
“My brother, Carlos’ssucesor. Was he in on this too? Was he informing to the FBI?”
I tried my best to swallow the lump in my throat that was forming. It was all too familiar—the older brother risking his life to be his sibling’s savior. I laughed bitterly, anything to distract myself from the desire to scream.
Adrian nodded slowly. “Yes.”
My heart crashed wildly in my chest, causing a tight searing pain.Oh my God. Oh, my fucking God. I’ve been judging him for weeks now, thinking he was a selfish prick, when he was actually doing exactly what Adrian is trying to do. Fuck! I’m a horrible sister. I’m fucking horrible piece of shit, weak-ass puta.
“You realize that my brother was also doing this forme. To get meout of here. Playing the white knight, big brother superhero just like you’re trying to do for Lonnie. And how did that work out, hmm?”
I raised my brows, Adrian staring at me blankly.
“He got a bullet in his skull,” I spat, my voice breaking under the pressure of grief suffocating me.
“So,” I paused, taking a breath to try to gain some composure. “By all means, go ahead. But think about how Lonnie’s gonna feel when you’re caught and murdered in front of him. Think about the shit storm Lonnie will be in whenhe’s forced to work for Carlos to make up for the fuckups you caused.”
“Shiloh, I get why you don’t want to get involved. But this is different. I know how to share information without a trace. It’s my fucking job as a sabueso to be a ghost online. I know what I’m doing.”
“And what exactly do you think is going to happen when you one day suddenly have ‘enough’ dirt?” I said, my voice cold with impatience for his ignorant ideas.
“I’ll be given immunity for anything I have to do in the process to gain the information, as well as a whole new life. I’m talking witness protection for me and Lonnie for life. We won’t get caught, Shiloh. I’m smart and I’ve never been suspected of anything.”
I shook my head, almost feeling sorry for how much he believed that could actually work. Adrian stared at me for a long silent moment, and I wondered if there was a reason why I was even bothering to give him a reality check.
He looked pissed as he held my stare. “At least I’ll havetried. At least I’ll have stood up to them. Done something to maybe even save the lives of other innocent people who are trapped in Los Siete. If I’m going to die, I might as well die fighting.”
I rolled my eyes, crossing my arms over my chest that felt like it was going to cave in. “Don’t fuck up my freedom because you’ve got some delusional superhero complex.”
Adrian sighed in defeat, and I thought it was because he actually heard what I had to say, but I was wrong.
“Freedom? Really? You think going to live with these religious freaks is going to earn you freedom?” Adrian scoffed, shaking his head. “At least I’m not a coward, letting my brother’s murderer and the men who raped me go free and continue to hurt other people.”
I couldn’t hold back the emotions anymore, and I didn’t care. My body was boiling with rage as I ran across the room and shoved his chest with all my strength.
“Shut the fuck up!” I screamed in his face. I swung my arm back, aimed to slug his face, but he quickly pinned both of my wrists behind my back.
“You’re only upset because you know I’m right.”
